the little goof

Our little goofball strikes again! Today he was in the jolly jumper and suddenly he stopped bouncing, stuck his legs out in front of him, and grabbed his knees...he just hung there, going up and down for a minute, grinning at us. It was hilarious! He did it again later. We caught a bit of it on video. I really need to figure out how to upload stuff from our video camera!

finally!

Ethan started crawling today! Just a foot or so, but it was definitely crawling! I just about started crying - hadn't expected THAT reaction! I think it was maybe because I was afraid I was going to miss the start of his crawling career while I was in Nicaragua. What a relief! He wouldn't do it again after that, but he was trying to push/pull himself along on his stomach and actually succeeded in moving a bit that way as well.

Who knows if this will continue or not though. He turned over several times at about 4 months old, then didn't do it again for a month, so maybe he will just wait for a while to try again. But he's really trying to get to things now - when we put him on his bum, it's usually less than a minute before he's pulled himself onto his stomach, where as before he would contentedly play on his butt for 30 minutes or more.

Every mother I know says that having them start moving isn't really cause for celebration because it's so much more work, but I'm so ready for the next stage!

oddness

I'm not sure how he did it, but this morning when I went to get Ethan out of bed, he was on his stomach and completely flipped around! He must have rotated himself on his back and then flipped...or something. I guess it will only get more interesting from here!

possibly the cutest father-son picture ever!

yum!

Ok, a post about me for once. I've discovered that I can cook! Obviously making supper several days a week for 5 years will have increased my skills a bit, but tonight I made a supper that actually made Jon groan with delight. Wow. I got 3 new cookbooks for Christmas (The Art of Simple Cooking, From Earth to Table, and the Big Green Cookbook) and I'm excited to learn how to knock his socks off every night!

I've realized that I like to go on learning kicks - for a while I was all about gardening, which I still love, but I went nuts with learning about it for a while. Then I went nuts with music. Before that it was indoor plants. Then I was reading every book I could get my hands on regarding babies in general. Then I read 3 books about babies and sleep issues. And now it's cooking. Would you consider that binge learning?

cuteness

Ethan's been figuring out how to roll in order to get something. He won't roll lots, but he'll do a roll and a half at least, all in succession. Funny thing is, he'll only go one direction! So when he runs out of room, we flip him the other way :) It's very cute. But of course, everything he does is cute...

progress!

So our little lazybones is finally making a bit of progress on the movement front. Today he apparently pulled himself almost to standing in the bathtub (under extreme supervision by daddy :). Apparently, he was quite proud of himself! After his bath, we usually give him some naked tummy time, and he was trying quite often to get onto all fours.

He's so funny when he's on his tummy. Sometimes I leave a trail of cheerios in front of him and he can't figure out to reach them. But if I put them in a circle around him, he'll spin himself quite easily, pulling himself with his hand. Isn't that the same muscles? oh well, he'll figure it out. In the meantime, I'm going to count my blessings ... I can turn my back and he won't really move!

my little goofball

Recently, Ethan has picked up a silly new trick. While we're feeding him with a spoon, he clamps the spoon between his teeth, closes his mouth, and starts laughing. As his mouth is closed, it sounds more like snorting from his nose! Sometimes he does it without the spoon too - just purses his lips and starts breathing hard and chuckling. I really need to try to get a video of it! It's so cute because he looks right at me and his eyes just sparkle with laughter. What a goofy kid!

Baby envy

I always thought it was really stupid to compare your kid with someone else's kid. There will always be someone else better than your kid at anything, and someone else worse than your kid at anything, right? I would read articles about "child envy" or "child comparison" and think that could never be me. I mean, really, how shallow is that?

But it is gratifying to hear the doctor say he was so strong, to hear people say he's so friendly, or so cute. It's secretly soothing to hear that other babies can't eat as well as him, or pick up small objects like he can.

But a baby 2 days older than Ethan is practically crawling, and he is just finally rolling over consistently. (He's been able to roll over for months, he just hasn't bothered -- ah, see how I try to make it sound better?) And a baby 7 weeks older than Ethan has been saying words for a couple months now, and all Ethan does is say "aaaahhhh" and the occasional consonant. I KNOW there's nothing wrong with him and that he's just developing at his own pace, but it's still hard to let go of my pride and realize that my kid isn't going to be the first, or the best, or the strongest, or the smartest.

I guess it's a good lesson to learn now. I suppose it's better to learn to let him be himself NOW, rather than learning that lesson when he's a teenager, rebelling against my expectations.

Is it just me though, or is this something you never think could affect you...until you have kids? I was talking to a childless friend of mine the other day, who reminded me that yes, it is stupid to compare your child with other children. But I realized I wasn't doing it on purpose - it almost comes as naturally as comparing my hair or body to someone else's! It feels like a dirty little secret, comparing my baby against other babies, feeling oddly gratified or jealous, as the case may be.

Obviously I need to let it go. As we've been teaching the kids in Sunday School, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, PEACE, PATIENCE, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Good thing God has plenty of peace and patience in his storehouse, because I'm going to need a truckload of it...both for Ethan and myself!

New song

Sing with me now, to the tune of "BINGO":

There was a boy whose name was Ethan

And teething was his game-o

1-2-3-4 teeth

1-2-3-4 teeth

1-2-3-4 teeth

in less than 30 days.

Yes, that's right, Ethan just sprouted his 4th upper tooth THIS MONTH, putting his grand total at 6 teeth. Pirana lessons, here we come!

My skills

Oh the joys of a cardboard box!

I got a box today. What a fun present!

You can do so many things with a box. You can play peekaboo.

You can open the box. You can close the box.

You can eat the box.

You can read the outside of the box. Or pretend to read.

Oh the joys of a cardboard box!

absurd!

I really can't believe I'm saying this, but Ethan just popped yet ANOTHER tooth today! I think that's 3 teeth in 3 weeks! No wonder the poor kid was grouchy this weekend. It was the other front tooth, and it really looks like the other eye tooth is coming right away as well. Good grief. Am I raising a shark or a human??

lopsided!

So Ethan just popped another tooth today...so now he has his two bottom teeth, and on the top, the right-hand fang (eye-tooth??) and the left-hand middle tooth. What a lopsided little face!

you just have so see it...

Ethan has a happy dance now, and he does it when he sitting, when he's lying down, when he's standing, when he gets a new toy, when he's eating, in the cart at the store...it's hard to describe but if you saw it, you would have to laugh! He shakes his whole upper body from side to side, usually while holding a toy or something else in his hands so he just squirms like a worm. I guess you just have to see it!